This is a lovely, massive sandy beach right next to Newquay in Cornwall.
This year we thought we’d explore a few other beaches in the Newquay area, as we usually stay in the places we know. So, we tried Crantock – we’d driven through the village before in winter, and thought it might be one of those lovely little indiscovered places that only the locals know about. Wrong! We got there at 10am, just as the car park (which is pretty big) put up the Full sign. And there was a huge queue right up the road. This is the National Trust car park, (£3 for the day; free for members; though it was free in the winter too) where there are loos; but there was a field next door which I expect is regularly used each summer for parking (also £3) and this filled up pretty quickly too. So my advice is get there very early.
The poor people in front of us had a pushchair and it was a real struggle for them – so think twice before trying this beach with babies. There’s several narrow steps to get down from the car park (though it’s possible to take a longer walk round down a slope) and then there are 2 massive sand dunes to climb over. Once you’ve tackled them, you’re faced with a beautiful wide river. You’re not aloud to swim in it though, so it’s a really long walk to get up to the sea shore. An even longer walk to get anywhere near the lifeguarded area.
So there are a few minor points to this beach. The plus points are – due to the length of the bay, and the limited number of car parking spaces; you get a bit more space round you on the beach than you do in other nearby places. (ie Mawgan Porth ). It also had a more relaxed atmosphere, and felt a bit more classy! It was certainly more middle class than it’s Fistral next-door neighbour! You could tell by the row upon row of cricket games going on!
Surf-wise; well, it was flat at Fistral, and it was also flat here on the day we went. But I understand it’s a good place to learn. There was beginner’s surfboard and bodyboard hire on the beach.
There aren’t any rock pools, so don’t bother carrying the kid’s fishing nets. There was a cafe in the field car park, with a small beach shop; but it was a long wait just for a portion of chips, and they were horrible. Loos in the NT carpark. Campers beware – there was a barrier; though not used in summer, I suspect it goes accross in winter. I don’t know if the field is allowed to be parked in in winter – I’ll find out and let you know.